


You Gotta Believe

by orphan_account



Series: It's Quitting Time, Boys [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Peter Pan References, Theatre, actually the musical IS peter pan surprise, almost all of them are into theatre, and stress crying, dry ice is mentioned briefly, jisung and chenle are the only sane ones, lots and lots of fluff, mark is teased a lot, renjun and jaemin are very very stressed, taeil just loves the "feeling", yukhei is there to offer help?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 05:27:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15089984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It's opening night of Peter Pan and everyone is expecting the best. (Spoiler: Everything is a mess before intermission.)Or the fic in which Renjun, Jaemin, Jeno, Donghyuck, and Mark try to give a great performance of Peter Pan and fail spectacularly.





	You Gotta Believe

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've decided to continue in the same timeline as the nohyuck cross country fic and this time they all work together on Peter Pan! The series might have some other works added to it; basically it follows '00 line and their friends up until their graduation. This is heavily inspired from something that happened in my theatre department this year. We can all laugh about it now but everyone was pissed at the time. I didn't proofread (what a surprise) but I hope you guys enjoy it! (there's literally no plot, I'm telling you now)

Renjun pried his headset off and stormed down to the stage. The director, Taeil paused the scene unfolding. “Babe” Renjun started as Jaemin began to narrow his eyes. It looked kind of funny considering he was wearing green tights. “I love you, really, but please stop touching your mic. Please. Your voice keeps going in and out when you mess with it.”

 

Jaemin scoffed and looked over to the girl playing Wendy. “Is my voice really going in and out?”

 

The girl nodded hesitantly before disappearing backstage. 

 

Renjun put his headset back on and turned to leave. “Just stop touching your mic.”

 

Jaemin called after him. “It’s because your fucking sound crew lackies don’t know how to put a mic on!”

 

Renjun heard Taeil try to comfort him. “We’ll get someone else to put your mic on then, okay?”

 

*

 

**[GROUP: jisung and his groupies]**

 

**_the het (jisung)_ **

_ how was musical rehearsal lmao _

 

**_donghyuck_ **

_ it was fine but I had to keep fixing jaemin’s eye makeup _

_ he said renjun hurt his feelings lmao _

 

**_mark_ **

_ damn ma was it that serious _

 

**_Peter Pan (jaemin)_ **

_ he kept yelling at me whenever he couldn’t hear me _

_ it’s not my fault his crew doesn’t know how to put mics on _

 

**_mark_ **

_ ok but I was on tech last year and if you mess with the mic the sound does go out _

 

**_donghyuck_ **

_ yeah he probably meant well _

 

**_Peter Pan (jaemin)_ **

_ mark you have too much free time for a college student don’t you think? _

  
  
  


Mark read Jaemin’s message the next morning and laughed. After graduating Mark decided to attend the state university. The pros were that it was one of the best in the country and he could still see his friends. The cons were that he could still see his friends. 

 

They had all planned to meet for breakfast that morning and then see a movie. They didn’t have school that Friday and it was opening night of  _ Peter Pan.  _ Jaemin was the lead and they wanted to distract him from his nerves as much as possible. 

 

Mark walked into the local diner and saw Jaemin, Jisung, and Donghyuck already present.

 

“Hey guys,” Mark said. “Long time no see.”

 

Jaemin snorted and continued scrolling through his phone. “You see us almost everyday. You’re like a leech.”

 

Mark frowned. “You guys are my friends.” And then after noticing two absences, he said, “Where are the prisoners you and Donghyuck call boyfriends?”

 

Donghyuck threw a straw wrapper at Mark’s face. He missed. “Jeno is in the bathroom and Renjun said he had something to take care of. He’ll be here later.”

 

“Honestly, Mark, I think you’re just jealous that you’re not dating anyone,” Jisung said, not playing Fortnite for once.

 

Mark rolled his eyes. “After dating Donghyuck for a year, the idea of relationships doesn’t appeal to me anymore.” 

 

He and Donghyuck had dated right before his senior year. It was nice and all, but they eventually realized they were better off as friends.

 

Jaemin finally shut his phone off. “But you said you confessed to Yukhei? Twice, actually.”

 

“That’s kind of pathetic to confess twice,” Jeno observed as he snuck into the seat next to Donghyuck.

 

Mark groaned and banged his head on the table. Yukhei had lived in the same neighborhood as Mark and Donghyuck. They occasionally hung out throughout their childhood but not very often because he went to the local private school. Then he had decided to enroll in the state university too, and Mark saw him more, and they hung out more and… now Mark was pathetic. The first time he had confessed Yukhei asked him if he had finally tried weed to which Mark said no, and the two didn’t talk for a week. The most recent confession was two days ago. Honestly, it went better than the first; Yukhei admitted that he did like Mark but he needed to sort out his sexuality crisis. Mark called it a success. His friends called it pitiful.

 

“Guys, I already told you, he’s working through stuff. You guys know what it’s like to question your sexuality, right?” Mark said. 

 

Jeno snorted. “Nope. I’ve always known I was gay.”

 

Donghyuck rubbed his back. “A model gay indeed.”

 

“Well, if you guys are on such good terms, maybe you should invite him to the musical tonight,” Jaemin suggested.

 

Mark nodded. “Okay, I will.”

 

Renjun walked through the doors and spotted their table. His face was creased with worry.

 

“Renjun, are you okay? What’s wrong?” Jaemin asked.

 

Renjun ignored him and turned to Mark. “Can you be the flight crew head tonight? The usual one has food poisoning.”

 

Mark spluttered. “Renjun, I haven’t been on tech in over a year.”

 

Jaemin glared at him then turned to his boyfriend. “Mark will be there tonight. Backstage. With the flight crew.”

 

Renjun sighed in relief. “Thank you so much Mark. Really.”

 

“Yeah, whatever.”

*

 

Jisung grabbed a seat near the front with Chenle, five minutes before the show. He and Chenle weren’t great friends, but with all of his friends about to graduate in less than two months, he needed to make new ones. Chenle seemed nice; he was in choir and Science Olympiad and always covered for Jisung when he was late to basketball. He was already nicer than his current friends.

 

He spotted Yukhei lingering by the entrance and waved him over. They didn’t have time to chat though, because the curtains opened to reveal Wendy and her siblings. Ah, theatre.

 

Jisung thought Jaemin was doing a fantastic job; he was especially charming in  _ What Happens When You’re Grown Up _ . He hadn’t heard any mistakes from the orchestra pit (Jeno hadn’t messed up on the saxophone yet.) and everyone’s stage makeup was flawless.

 

But right after  _ Rich Damp Cake _ , everything went to shit.

 

Sometime between scene transitions, a curtain fell on an actor. The audience could hear Mark having a nervous breakdown backstage. (“I said we’re flying in Leg 2! Are you all deaf? It says it in the script and you’ve been rehearsing for months! Why the fuck is Leg 3 still out there? Fly it out!”) Yukhei winced after each curse.

 

And then, the dry ice.

 

Jisung later learned that the dry ice incident had nothing to do with Renjun, and everything to do with the director, Taeil Moon. He admitted that he had gotten too caught up in the “feeling” and asked for way too much dry ice on stage. The Lost Boys and Captain Hook evacuated the stage coughing and Jisung saw Jeno and the rest of the band crawling out of the orchestra pit soon after. It was a mess.

 

Chenle leaned over. “Your friends must be so stressed. This is a disaster.”

 

Jisung nodded, already feeling the anxiety knot in his stomach. “I hope none of them have cried.”

 

Yukhei stood up. “Mark just texted me and said they need some help with scene transitions. I’m gonna go see what I can do,” He whispered before sneaking backstage.

 

Jisung folded his program nervously. “Everything should be okay, right?”

  
  


 

 

Everything was not okay.

 

Jaemin wiped his tears away as Donghyuck tried to apply more eyeliner. They had miraculously made it to the last number,  _ Don’t Say Goodbye _ , but Jaemin was still disappointed at how the show had gone earlier. Besides medical and safety hazards caused by the tech crew, half of the actors had forgotten their lines, Jaemin included. Their mics kept going in and out and the music would sometimes stop at random times. This was definitely not how he pictured the opening night of the first musical he was the lead in.

 

“Jaemin, you still have two more nights. Just end strong, okay?” Donghyuck reassured as applied more foundation to the spots messed up by his tears.

 

Jaemin nodded. “Thanks, Hyuck.”

 

As soon as the show ended, he took his bows then went to find Renjun. As expected, he was holed up in the sound booth, a pitiful expression on his face. Jaemin shooed the rest of the sound crew out and sat next to him.

 

“You did a great job tonight, Renjun. Really.”

 

Renjun sighed and rubbed his eyes. “My first year as head of tech crew and I fuck it up. Yeah, I did a really great job.”

 

Jaemin pried his hands from his face and kissed his knuckles. “None of those things were your fault. And we have two more shows. I mean it when I say I’m proud of you.”

 

Renjun’s eyes welled up with tears and Jaemin pulled him into his arms.

 

“If you tell anyone I cried tonight, I’m ending our streak on Snapchat,” Renjun mumbled into Jaemin’s shirt.

 

Jaemin rubbed his back and hummed. “Okay, you big baby. I won’t tell.”

 

*

 

Donghyuck gave Jeno another pat down before finally stepping back. “You’re sure you’re fine?”

 

Jeno whined. “Yes, I feel perfectly fine.”

Donghyuck shook his head in disbelief. “Nope. You’re coming to my house so we can research the effects of dry ice on WebMD.”

 

Jeno laughed. “It’s fine, I’m fine. Besides, they’ll tell me I have lung cancer.”

 

Donghyuck gasped. “Is that really a possibility?”

 

*

 

Mark and Yukhei walked out to his car in silence. Mark was impressed that Yukehi was able to pick up the stage cues so quickly without hesitation. He really made Renjun’s job easier.

 

“Thanks for helping, Renjun. He’ll never say it himself, but he puts a lot of pressure on himself. Sometimes you just have to help without asking,” Mark said.

 

Yukhei kicked a stray rock. “You do the same thing though?”

 

Mark laughed. “I guess so.”

 

“Hey Mark.” Yukhei stopped.

 

Mark looked back. “Yeah?”

 

“Was tonight supposed to be a date?”

 

Mark scrunched up his eyebrows. “No?”

 

Yukhei sighed in relief. “Thank goodness. If it was, I was going to reject you.”

 

Mark punched his arm. “Ah, come on.  _ You Gotta Believe _ is motivational. It’s a perfect song for a date.”

 

Yukhei faked disgust. “I can’t believe I like a dumbass,” He mumbled as he walked away.

 

Mark scurried after him. “What was that? Say it louder please, the director screamed in my ear backstage.”

 

Yukhei began talking to the air. “God, it’s like I’m hearing voices now. Is this what Thespians do to regular people?”

 

Mark laughed and wrapped his arms around Yukehi’s waist. “Shut up. Weren’t you in your high school’s production of  _ Grease _ ?”

 

“Suddenly, I cannot hear.” But Yukhei pulled Mark into his side anyway, heart unusually full of faith, trust, and a little pixie dust.


End file.
